FIRST SERVE
No. 15 UC Irvine will entertain Harvard Wednesday (Jan. 12) and No. 12 Stanford Friday (Jan. 14). Both matches start at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.

Please note: Proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test is required to enter the Bren Events Center. Check out the Attendance Policy for details. UCI has a clear bag policy and requires mobile ticketing.

STORYLINES
This will be the first meeting between UCI and Harvard.

Wednesday will be Harvard's season opener.

The Crimson did not compete last season and went 9-6 overall before the 2020 shutdown.

UCI opened the season, going 1-1 with a 3-0 win over Lindenwood and a 3-2 loss at Stanford.

Against the Cardinal, outside hitter Francesco Sani had a career-high 24 kills.

Stanford's Will Rottman was named MPSF Offensive Player of the Week, while Justin Lui was the Defensive Player of the Week. Rottman had a team-high 16 kills against the Anteaters with two aces.

The Cardinal enter the match with a 3-0 record after beating Lindenwood twice to start the season.

The Anteaters averaged 13.25 kills in the first week of the season, tops in the Big West.

HILIR RACKS UP HONORS IN DEBUT
Opposite Hilir Henno started his UCI career in impressive fashion, earning Big West Defensive Player of the Week as well as Freshman of the Week from the Big West Conference and Off The Block.

For the week, Henno averaged 3.88 kills, 3.25 digs, 0.75 blocks and 0.75 aces over two matches.

Against Stanford, he had a career-high 22 kills, 19 digs and five block assists.  The 19 digs are the most by a Big West player this season.

He leads the Big West in dig average and is second in aces, recording six aces over the first eight sets. The freshman also ranks second in points with a 5.00 mark.

SANI TAKES CHARGE
Francesco Sani led UCI in both matches last week and tops the Big West in kill average (4.75) and points per set (5.13). He is fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.319).

He started the year with a career-high 14 kills then bettered that with a Big West leading 24 kills versus Stanford.

IN THE MIDDLE
Sophomore Connor Campbell leads the Big West with a 1.13 block average, while junior Doug Dahm is fifth with a 1.00 mark.

Campbell had a career-best seven block assists versus Stanford and a career-high six kills to start the year versus Lindenwood.

Dahm had five kills and a career-best six total blocks (1 solo, 5 assists) against the Cardinal. His .750 hitting percentage in the first match of the year is the best in the Big West.

VORENKAMP BACK AT SETTER
After a year playing in the middle, Patrick Vorenkamp returns to the setting position. The redshirt junior leads the conference with a 11.00 set assists average.

Vorenkamp's 52 set assists against Stanford are the most by a Big West player this season.